Due to the increasing number of technical components in motorized vehicles, it is necessary that these components be optimized with respect to the installation space, in order to ensure the desired large number of functionalities by means of accommodating these elements. One requirement is for an air conditioning system of a motorized vehicle for conditioning a supplied air mass flow to split supplied air mass flow up and guide the individual air mass flows into different areas of the vehicle. This requirement consists in the optimal use of the available limited installation space.
When designing the air conditioning systems, their design is adapted to the available space within the motorized vehicles and therefore individually for a particular vehicle model of a model series. Like this, vehicle models and/or vehicle platforms, which comprise at least two differently designed installation spaces for the air conditioning system, traditionally have at least two different versions of the air conditioning system developed. The divergent designs of the air conditioning systems differ both in their exterior form as well as in the components used.
The use of the differently designed air conditioning systems depending on the vehicle models in addition to the high cost of design also results in the same high expense of production and development for the required components in the different versions as well as further added costs, such as for storage and transportation. Depending on the required development of the air conditioning system in the respective motorized vehicle, divergent air conditioning housings must be provided and equipped with components. In addition to the appropriate tools for the divergent air conditioning systems, specially adapted processes are also necessary, for example during the assembly.
Air conditioning systems with modular housings are known in the art. They have variable functionality and components with variable dimensions. European Pat. Appl. Pub. No. EP 1 634 735 A1 thus describes a motorized vehicle air conditioning system in which a part of the housing is designed for different-zoned air conditioning systems, wherein at least the configuration of a blower, an evaporator and a heat exchanger is the same in the different-zoned air conditioning systems. The housing of the air conditioning system is differently designed for the various versions and can be modified with accessories or replacement parts. The changes of the housing and the accessories or replacement parts will vary the functionality of the air conditioning system with respect to the design with different zones.
German Pat. Appl. Pub. No. DE 100 37 384 A1 discloses a heating and air conditioning system for a motorized vehicle with an air conditioning system housing with multiple air vents for the supply of air to the front zones of the motorized vehicle interior. The air conditioning system housing, in which a heat exchanger is arranged, comprises a connecting section provided with an air vent for the connection of a front air conditioning unit that can be optionally connected as a booster module, which can be tightly sealed with a detachable closure component, if not used. The air conditioning housing therefore forms a basic module, to which a corresponding rear passenger compartment air conditioning unit can be allocated as a booster module. The heating and air conditioning system can be used to control the temperature in the front and in the rear compartment, as needed.
European Pat. No. EP 1 705 040 B1 describes an air conditioning apparatus of a passenger compartment of any vehicle in a motorized vehicle model series. The apparatus has a lower housing with a front and a rear part. Within this housing, heat exchangers with a predetermined width and a predetermined tilt in relation to the horizontal are arranged, which are constant and specific for the model series. The heat exchangers moreover have a specific height that can be varied for a particular vehicle, which is between a minimum and a maximum height, which are also specific for the model series.
German Pat. Appl. Pub. No. DE 196 13 345 A1 presents a heating or air conditioning system with a housing, which is easily assembled and is suitable for variable installation in a motorized vehicle in which the instrument panel is arranged on the left or on the right side. The housing consists of a blower segment and a heat exchanger segment, which in each case are symmetrically assembled and which can be reciprocally latched by mechanical components and which makes a mirror image installation possible, relative to the longitudinal axis of the motorized vehicle, wherein the dimensions of the instrument panel components can be designed invariable.
The modular configuration of the blower segment and of the heat exchanger segment facilitates the independent configuration of the segments concerning their outside dimensions.
Something unique with the known systems from the prior art is that the modular configuration with different components and booster modules or expansion features increase the functionality of the air conditioning systems and expand possible applications, such as different multi-zoned air conditioning systems, in connection with different vehicle models of a motorized vehicle model series, and make the location near the instrument panel more variable. However, the known air conditioning systems indicate no possibility of adapting an air conditioning system easily to different installation spaces if the functionality of the system is to remain unchanged and by using identical components.